Method of mining and apparatus therefor



Jan. 10, 1939.

T. F. M CARTHY METHOD OF MINING AND APPARATUS THEREFOR Filed March 17,1937 5 Sheets-Sheet l Jan. 10, 1939.

T. F. M CARTHY METHOD OF MINING AND APPARATUS THEREFOR 3 Sheets-Sheet 2Fil ed March 17, 1937 w mw Jan. 10, 1939. F. MCCARTHY METHOD OF MININGAND APPARATUS THEREFOR Filed March 17, 1937 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 PatentedJan. 10, 1939 PATENT OFFICE A METHOD OF MINING AND APPARATUS THEREFORTimothy FrMcCarthy, Indiana, Pa., assignor to Goodman ManufacturingCompany,

Chicago,

111., a corporation of Illinois Application March 1'1, 1937, Serial No.131,39! 10 Claims. (Cl. 262-1) This invention relates to improvements inmethods of mining and apparatus therefor, and more particularly relatesto'a new and improved method and apparatus for loading coal in mineswhich is adapted for use in thin coal seams.

In mining thin seams of coal it has frequently been the practice toextend a sectional conveyer of the belt, chain or shaker type into theroom up to the working face and load this conveyer by hand or otherloading means such as an auxiliary face conveyer extending along theworking face. Such a loading system has several disadvantages,particularly in seams of coal of low head room, among which are thefacts that it is diflicultand expensive to extend the conveyer as theface advances due to the bulk of the parts of the conveyer sections andthe restricted space in which the men work, and that they must beconfined to a restricted area in the mine.

Among the objects of my invention are to overcome these dificulties byproviding a novel system for transporting the mined coal from the coalface to the entry which utilizes a mobile car having a capacitysuflicient to hold the. entire amount of coal obtained from a workingplace in one cutting and shoveling operation, which car has a conveyerextending along its bottom to facilitate loading and unloading.

Another object of my invention is to utilize a car in the system whichis so arranged that diiferent grades of coal in the seam, or dirt orrock, may be separated andloaded or unloaded separately from each other.

Still another object of my invention is to pro- 5 vide a loading systemutilizing a car of the class described which will facilitate the loadingof the coal in a simpler, cheaper, and more efiicient manner thanformerly.

Other objects of my invention will appear from 40 time to time as theaccompanying specification proceeds.

My invention may be more clearly understood with reference to theaccompanying drawings wherein:

45 Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view of a mine room shown in horizontalsection, illustrating one form of loading system which embodies myinvention;

Figure 2 is a diagrammatic view of the mine room shown in Figure 1,shown in vertical sec- 50 tion, illustrating another stage in theoperation of the mining system than is shown in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a diagrammatic view of a mine room shown in horizontalsection, illustrating another form in which the mining system of my 55invention may be embodied;

Figure 4 is a diagrammatic view of the mine room and entry shown invertical section, illustrating another stage in the operation of themining system than is shown in Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a top plan view of a conveyer car 5 of a type which may beused in the system of my invention, with parts broken away and shown inhorizontal section;-

Figure 6 is an enlarged partial fragmentary side elevation ofthedeviceshown in Figure 5; 10

Figure 7 is a sectional view taken substantially along line 1-1 ofFigure 5;

Figure 8 is a plan view of a modified form of conveyer car with certainparts broken away and in section, illustrating another form of car which15 may be used in the mining system of my invention; I

Figure 9 is a sectional view taken substantially along line 9-9 ofFigure 8; and

Figure 10 is a sectional view taken substantially 20 along line Ill-Illof Figure 8.

Referring now in particular to Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings, ll)designates generally a mine entry from which extend mine rooms 0 l. Atrack having mine cars I2 movable therealong extends 25 along the entryfor transporting'the coal out of the mine, although various types ofconveyers may be used in place of the cars if desired. A track It isextended into the mine room from the entry to a point disposed adjacentto the 30 working face. As herein shown, this track is of a relativelywide gauge, being wider than the gauge of the track in the entry inorder that it may accommodate a car l5 having a capacity sufficient totransport the entire amount of coal obtained from the working place inone cutting and shooting operation, which in a coal; ,seam averaging 36inches in height will approximate 28 tons for a 40 foot face.

An elevating conveyer I6 is shown as being. 40 provided at the end ofthe track I adjacent the entry, for receiving material discharged fromthe car l5 and delivering it'onto the mine cars I2. Said conveyer may beof any form and as herein shown has deflecting plates 11, on each sidethereof to guide material from the relatively wide car I5 onto thenarrower elevating conveyer. Said elevating conveyer is not described indetail since it is no portion of my present invention.

A hoist I8 is provided which is herein shown as being positionedadjacent the entry. Said hoist may be of a single drum type for movingthe car Hi from the face to the elevating conveyer it, although ifdesired a two drum hoist such as is shown in Figure 3 may be providedfor 5 moving the car along the track in either direction. A miningmachine H, which effects the undercutting operation, may be positionedadjacent the working face after completion of the cutting operation.Said mining machine may be of any suitable construction and when jackedin a stationary position, may provide motive power to move the empty carinto the working place.

The mining machine 59, as herein shown, is mounted on a'flitting trucklSa after the cutting operation, which with said mining machine may bejacked in a stationary position on the ground when it is desired thatthe mining machine be the activating force for moving the car 15 up tothe working place. Said truckis adapted to slide along the mine bottomand transport the mining machine from cutting place 'to cutting placewhen desired at a' faster rate of speed than if the feed drums of themining machine were used for this purpose, and is of a construction wellknown to those skilled in the art so will not herein be described indetail. Said truck is provided with a winding drum I912 which is adaptedto have a flexible cable I90 wound thereon. Said cable serves to movesaid truck and mining machine over the ground when attached to a fixedabutment remote from said truck, and said cable, when attached to saidcar, may move it toward the working face when desired. The winding drum|9b may be driven from the motor of the mining machine I 9 through theusual power connections from the truck drive in a manner well known tothose skilled in the art, which will not herein be described in detailsince it is no portion of my present invention.

Operation of the hoist I8 is controlled by means of a. push buttoncontroller disposed in the mine room adjacent the elevating conveyor l6,and another push button controller 2! disposed adjacent the workingface. The electric control system for controlling operation of saidhoist by means of these push button controllers is well known to thoseskilled in the art and is no portion of my present invention so will notherein be described in detail.

With reference now in particular to the details of the car l5, as shownin Figures 5, 6 and 7, said car is of a sectional construction to permitextension thereof so that its capacity may be increased where desiredand includes a head frame section 23 and a tail frame section 24L Saidsections are of a box-like construction with open ends and aredetachably secured together by means of suitable bolts 25, 25 extendingthrough abutting end pieces 26 and 21 of said head and tail sectionsrespectively, and by connecting side plates 28, 28 which extend acrossand are secured to the abutting sides of said sections. Said sectionsare so arranged that the capacity of the car may be increased byinserting intermediate conveyer sections (not shown) which may be of aconstruction similar in form to the tail section 24 and may be securedto said head and tail sections in the same manner said head and tailsections'are secured together.

The head frame section 23 is mounted on a pair of track wheels 29, '29on secured to said frame in a suitable manner. The tail section 24 islikewise mounted on a pair of track wheels 3|, 3! on stud axles 32, 32.Said wheels are of a relatively small diameter but have a relativelywide tread to prevent the car from derailing when negotiating turns,especially where the system is laid out so that the car must travel intoan entry or wherethe track is stud axles 30, 30

T a, teases so laid out that one car may be used in more than one room.It should, of course, be understood that if desired the wheels may bemounted on swivels to aid in negotiating curves.

The head section 23 is provided with retaining side walls 33, 33 whichare detachably secured to spaced apart upright supporting members 33,34. These side walls are of a usual construction and if desired, may beso constructed as to be extended vertically to take care of variousworking heights in the mine. In a like manner, the tail section 2 3 isprovided with corresponding side walls 35, 35 secured to uprightsupporting members 36, 36. The side walls 33, 33 and 34, 33 are soarranged that they may readily be lowered during the loading operationto facilitate loading over the side of the car if desired.

A bottom plate 31 extends along the bottom of the head frame section 23.plate 38 extends along the bottom of the tail frame section 23. Saidbottom plates are so arranged that theymay be removed when connecting ordisconnecting the sections of the car so that ready access to the bolts25, 25 may be attained.

A conveyer 39, herein shown as being a flight conveyer, extends alongthe bottom of the frame sections 23 and 24 of said car and includes apair of spaced endless chains 40, 40 having spaced apart flights M,carried therebetween. Said chains are adapted to move over the bottomplate 38 of said tail frame section and the bottom plate 31 of said headframe section, which bottom plates form a surface along which materialmay be moved by said flights.

The endless chains 40, 40 extend along the upper and lower sides of thebottom plates.31 and 38 and are driven from drive sprockets 82, 42 on atransverse drive shaft 43 at the discharge end of the head section 23. Atransverse shaft 45 about which said endless chains turn is mounted inbearing members 46, 46 at the outer end of the tail section 24. Saidbearing members are longitudinally adjustable in support brackets 41, 41in a usual manner to provide a means for adjusting the tension of saidchains.

The conveyer 39 is driven by a motor 50, which as herein shown, is anelectric motor of an ordinary construction. Said motor is mounted on asupport bracket 5| extending outwardly from one side of the head framesection 23 and is directly connected with and drives a speed reducer 52through a coupling member 53. Said speed reducer is of an ordinaryconstruction and has a pinion 54 on itsdrive shaft which meshes with anddrives a spur gear 55. Said spur gear drives the transverse shaft 43 bymeans of a chain and sprocket drive generally indicated by referencecharacter 51.

It may be seen from the foregoing that material such as coal may beloaded on the tail end of the car and gradually moved towards the headend thereof by periodically operating the conveyer 39.

Referring now to the modified form of car shown in Figures 8, 9 and 10,said car is constructed in a manner similar to that shown in- Figure 5so like reference characters will'be applied to like parts. Said car isdivided into two 'parallel extending conveyer'sections by means of.

a central partition 59. Each of these sections has a conveyer 60 mountedtherein, which is of the ordinary flight type and includes a pair ofspaced endless chains 5|,- Bl having flights 62 mounted therebetween.Said endless chains are trained A similar bottom around and driven fromdrive sprockets 83, 63 on coaxial transverse shafts 64, 64 which are soarranged as to be driven independently of each other. Each shaft 64 hasa sprocket 66 freely mounted on its outer end. Said sprockets areadapted to be selectively connected with said connected with a speedreducer #8 by means of a drive coupling 79. Said speed reducer drivesthe shaft 69 by means of a gear train generally indicated by referencecharacter 80. Thus, either of the conveyers may be selectively drivenfrom the motor 76 to permit the loading and discharge of one conveyerindependently of the other.

Referring now in particular to the details of the mining system shown inFigure 1, a kerf is first cut in the coal face by means of a miningmachine, such as the shortwall machine i9. After the cutting operationthe machine is withdrawnfrom the face .and preferably moved onto theflitting truck i9a which is positioned along the track i4. Said miningmachine and truck are then held in this position by means of suitablejacks in a usual manner. The feed rope I917: may then be trainedforwardly from the winding drum i9b on said truck, to and around asheave 83, and rearwardly from said sheave to the car l5 to which it isconnected. Power is then applied to said feeding drum for moving the carI5 up to the working face. The car-is then loaded in a suitable manner,such as by hand, the conveyer being operated periodically as it isloaded, to move the coal towards the discharge end thereof. After theworking place has been completely cleaned up, the hoist l8, which isconnected to said car by means of a cable 84, is operated by means ofone ofthe push buttons 2|. Said hoist thus moves the loaded carrearwardly along the track, the operator riding'with the car on a stepof said car. When the car approaches the elevating conveyer IS theoperator alights from the car and stops the hoist l8 by means of one ofthe push buttons 20.- At this point the car is unloaded onto theelevating conveyer l6 by periodically operating the conveyer 39. Saidelevating conveyer is controlled and operated by means of a separatemotor (not shown) and loads onto the mine cars l2, H! as they are movedunder its discharge end.

Referring now in particular to the form of my mining system illustratedin Figures 3 and 4, the bottom is shown as being taken up along theentry to increase vertical clearance for the mine cars and permit theconveyer car to dischargev utilized for moving the car towards and fromthe A suitable system of remote controls is proface. One cable 88 fromsaid hoist is connected to the discharge end of the car l5 and anothercable 89 extends forwardly from said hoist around a guide sheave 9i andis connected to said car vided for controlling the hoist 81 and movementof the car to and from the face, which, as herein shown, includes a pushbutton controller 93 disposed adjacent the discharge point of the hoistand another push button controller 94 at the face. hoist by means of asuitable system of electrical contactors in a well known manner which isnot herein shown or described since it is no portion of my presentinvention.

In Figure 3 a two compartment car is shown as being used in the system.After the cutting and shooting operation the car is drawn to the workingface by means of the hoist 81. Coal isvthen loaded into one compartmentof the car while dirt or rock may be loaded into the other compartment,unless there is no dirt present, in which case both compartments may beloaded with coal. When the entire place has been cleaned up and loadedonto the conveyer car, it is moved towards the entry by operation of thepush button controllers 94. The operator then steps on a step 95 andrides'with the car until it reaches a position adjacent the push buttoncontroller 93 at which time he alights and stops the car by means ofsaid last mentioned push button controller when its forward end isoverhanging the entry so as to discharge onto the mine cars i2. Eitherone of the conveyers 60 is then periodically unloaded. The otherconveyer 60 is then These push button controllers control theperiodically operated until all of the dirt and rock have been loaded onother of the cars i2, it being understood that the cars are moved alongthe entry beneath the discharge end of said conveyer car by means of asuitable mining locomotive or hoist.

It will be seen from the foregoing that a simplified form of car havinga conveyer therein to facilitate loading and unloading has been providedwhich is so constructed that it may have capacity suflicient to hold allof the coal taken from the working face after one cutting and shootingoperation, and that said car may be separated into compartments toseparate different grades of coal when there is more than one grade ofcoal in the coal seam, or to separate the rock from the coal where thereis rock or dirt which it i is desired to clean from the coal at theface.

It may also be seen that a simplified system of mininghas been providedwhich consists in the steps of cutting and shooting, and loading thebroken coal into a car, and periodically moving the material in the cartowards its discharge end by operation of a conveyer extending along thebottom of the car, until the working place has been cleaned up, and thenmoving the car to the entry and unloading it onto mine cars, or anyother suitable material transporting means, by periodically orcontinuously operating the conveyer in the car. It will also beunderstood that the car may be used to transport supplies to the workingface if desired and may be remotely controlled either from the face orthe entry so that the services of one man only will be required tocontrol its operation.

It should be understood that while I have herein shown the hoistas beingmounted at the entry for moving a car towards and from the face for thepurposes of simplicity, that a hoist may be mounted on the car ifdesired, or that any other form of propelling means may be'provided formoving the car.

While I have herein shown and described one formin which my inventionmay be embodied, it will be understood that the construction thereof andthe arrangement of the various parts may be altered without departingfrom the spirit and scope thereof. Furthermore, I do not wish to beconstrued as limiting myself to the specific embodiments illustrated,excepting as they may be limited in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a coal mining and loading system, the method of mining and loadingcoal which consists in extending a track into the working place,providing a mining machine in the working place and undercutting thecoal with said mining machine, breaking down the undercut coal,positioning the mining machine to one side of the working place andholding it from movement with respect to the ground, providing a caronsaid track having a conveyer extending alongits bottom, said car beingof a capacity sufiicient to transport the entire amount of coal cut fromthe working place; securing a flexible member extending from. a windingdrum, driven by the motor of said mining machine, to said car, providinga hoist adjacent the entry, connecting a flexible member from said hoistto said car, moving said car to the working place by the application of.power to said winding drum, loading mined coal onto said car, movingsaid loaded car from the working place by means of said hoist, andoperating said conveyer to unload said car onto material transportingmeans in said entry. 2. In a coal mining and loading system, the methodof mining and loading coal which consists in extending a track into theworking place, providing a car on said track having a conveyer extendingalong its bottom, said car being of a capacity sufiicient to transportthe entire amount of coal cut from the working place, providing a trackextending along the entry adapted to have mine cars movable therealong,providing an elevating conveyer at the rear end of said first mentionedtrack which extends over said second mentioned track for moving materialfrom said conveyer car to said mine cars, providing a mining machine inthe working place and undercutting the coal with said mining machine,breaking down the undercut coal, positioning the mining machine adjacentto said first mentioned track and holding it from movement with respectto the ground, securing a flexible member extending from a winding drumon said mining machine to said conveyer car, providing a hoist adjacentthe entriuconnecting a flexible member from said hoist tosaid car,moving said car to the working place by the application of power to saidwinding drum, loading the mined coal from the working face onto saidcar,moving said loaded car from the working face by the application of powerto said hoist, periodically operating said conveyer to unload onto saidelevating conveyer, and independently operating said elevating conveyeras the mine cars are positioned thereunder. 3. In a coal mining andloading system, the method of mining and loading coal which consists inproviding a mining machine in the working place and undercutting thecoal with said mining machine, breaking down the undercut coal,providing a truck in the working place, said truck having a winding drumthereon with a flexible cable adapted to be extended therefrom, and saidtruck being adapted to receive said mining machine, positioning themining machine on said truck and holding it from movement with respectto the ground, providing a car which is movable into the working place,said car having a conveyer extending along its bottom and being of acapacity sufiicient to transport the entire amount of coal mined fromthe working place to the entry,

extending said flexible cable from said winding drum on said truck tosaid car and securing its free end to said car, providing a hoistadjacent the entry, connecting a flexible member from said hoist to saidcar, moving said car to the working place by the application of power tosaid winding drum on said truck, loadingmined coal onto said car, movingsaid loaded car from the working place by means of said hoist, andoperating said conveyer to unload said car onto material transportingmeans in said entry.

4. In a. coal mining system, the method of mining and loading coal whichconsists in extending a track into the working place, providing aconveyer car on said track, said car having a pair of separatedconveyers extending along its bottom and being of a capacity suflicientto transport the entire amount of coal mined from the working place,providing a mining machine at the working place, undercutting the coalwith said mining machine, positioning said mining machine to one side ofthe working place and securing it in such a position, attaching aflexible feed member from a winding drum, driven by said mining machine,to said car, providing a hoist at the entry and connecting a flexiblemember from said hoist to said car, moving said car to the face by saidWinding drum driven by said mining machine, loading coal into one ofsaid compartments and loading rock or dirt in the other of saidcompartments until the entire working place has been cleaned out, andthence moving said car by said hoist to the entry and independentlyunloading said conveyers of their contents onto said materialtransporting means so that said rock or dirt and coal may be unloadedseparately from each other.

5. In an apparatus of the class described, a sectional car having arelatively wide gauge including a head section and a tail sectiondetachably secured together and so arranged that intermediate sectionsmay be inserted therebetween to permit the car to be expanded toaccommodate the entire amount of material mined from oneworking place,said car havinga conveyer extending along its bottom so that materialmay be moved towards its rearward end by said conveyer as it is beingloaded, and so that material may be discharged beyond its rear end bysaid conveyer.

6. In an apparatus of the class described, a sectional car having arelatively wide gauge including a head section and a tail sectiondetachably secured together and so arranged that intermediate sectionsmay be inserted therebetween to permit the car to be expanded toaccommodate the entire amount of materialmined from one working place,said car having a pair of separated independently operable conveyersextending along its bottom so that difierent grades of coal may beloaded into said compartments and separated from each other, or so thatcoal may be loaded in one compartment and rock may be loaded in theother and be independently discharged beyond the head end of said car.

'7. In a loading apparatus for mines having low head room, an open endsectional car movable the working place in one cutting and breaking 75down operation, and a conveyer extending along the bottom of said car tofacilitate loading and unloading by progressing material from theforward to rearward end thereof.

8. In a loading apparatus for mines having low head room, an open endsectional oar movable along a trackway extending into a working place,said car including a head section and a tail section adapted to bedetachably secured thereto and being so arranged that intermediatesections may be inserted between said head and tail sections and beingdivided into two compartments extending longitudinally thereof for per-vmitting different grades of coal or rock or dirt to be loaded separatelyfrom each other, and said car having a capacity suiilcient to hold theentire amount of coal obtained from the working place in one cutting andbreaking down operation, and an independently operable conveyerextending along the bottom of each of said compartments to facilitateloading and unloading by progressing material from the forward torearward end thereof.

' 9. In a loading apparatus for mines of low head room, an open endself-unloading sectional car movable along a trackway extending into awork- 10. In a loading apparatus for mines of low head room, aself-unloading sectional car open at both of its ends and movable alongia trackway extending into a working place, said car being arranged tostore loose material substantially along its entire length and includingdetachable head and tail sections having a self-contained power drivenflight conveyer extending along its bottom to facilitate loading andunloading by progressing the material from the forward to rearward endthereof.

- TIMOTHY F. MCCARTHY.

